Syrian Regime Offers Prisoner Swap with Opposition

The Syrian regime is ready to offer a prisoner exchange with rebels, according to Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

Speaking in Moscow, Muallem also said he had presented a ceasefire plan for the second city Aleppo to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, the BBC informs.

The moves came as the opposition Syrian National Coalition meets in Istanbul to decide whether to go to next week's peace conference. The coalition is under Western pressure to participate in the Geneva-2 talks, but many of its members have already pulled out.

Lavrov and US Secretary of State John F. Kerry this week called on both sides in the protracted Syrian conflict to work toward a limited ceasefire, a prisoner exchange and improved access for humanitarian aid in advance of next week's meeting.

The so-called Geneva-2 conference is meant as a follow-up to one held in June 2012, where world powers issued a call for a Syrian transition government.

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